Friends of the Earth is happy that the Brexit White Paper includes a commitment to bring EU environmental protections into UK law but says the "devil will be in the detail".

Campaigner Samuel Lowener, said it was "sensible" that the government had left open the possibility of remaining part of some EU regulatory bodies.

"Continuing to maintain a level regulatory playing field on issues such as chemical safety with our European neighbours is not only good for people and the environment, it makes sense for business too," he said.

Back to the Brexit White Paper, Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party argues that it "does nothing to allay fears of the Tories leading us towards an extreme Brexit."

She added it was "particularly astounding that there’s still no guarantee for EU nationals living here - the government’s intransigence on this is unforgivable".

Ms Lucas, the sole Green MP at Westminster, says she intends to do "all I can to protect our hard won environment and social protections” over the coming weeks.

BBC Radio 5 live

Karen Danczuk has told Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5 live that she would like to return to politics and become an MP, because she believes "my voice is important". 

Ms Danczuk, who has been a councillor in the past and is estranged from her husband the MP for Rochdale, Simon Danczuk, said: "I want to get back into politics, and I've been thinking this past week, actually I would love to be an MP, I genuinely would, and I just hope I can get the support out there to enable that." 

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Ex-Labour minister and EU commissioner Lord Mandelson receives France's highest honour.

Image source, bbc

Chart 7.1 of the government's Brexit White Paper has raised a few eyebrows. It comes in a section comparing employment practices in the UK with the rest of the EU, and appears to suggest British workers are entitled to 14 weeks of annual leave. Sounds good to us...

UK ministers take Wales' interests "extremely seriously" in preparations for leaving the EU, the Brexit secretary says.

BBC News Channel

It appears the government is looking at special deals for key sectors - financial services, car manufacturers and chemical exports - to ensure they retain the benefits of the single market, says the BBC's Norman Smith.

He also says Diane Abbott is under pressure after failing to turn up to vote - because she was sick. Her fellow Labour MP John Mann accused her of cowardice and said she should apologise.

Meanwhile Chris Leslie, a Labour MP who voted against triggering Article 50, tells the BBC he has not spoken to Ms Abbott about it but adds: "Diane, if you're watching, get well soon."

Lord Newby, leader of the LIb Dems in the Lords, tells the BBC the Brexit bill will go through by the end of March but he says it is "logical" that "the people" should have the final say on the deal.

The House of Lords will want to scrutinise the bill and may send it back to the Commons and ask MPs, who voted to support the bill on Wednesday, to "think again", he says

He expects amendments on membership of single market and rights of EU citizens to be discussed and voted on by peers.

Lord Newby, who leads 102 peers in the Lords, says there should be no Brexit without another referendum.

In Stoke on Trent, where Tristram Hunt's Stoke Central seat is up for grabs after the Labour MP quit to become director of London's V&A Museum, new UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has his eye on a Westminster seat.

Mick Temple, Professor of journalism and politics at the University of Staffordshire says Brexit is the number one issue on the doorstep - he's hearing from Labour activists - and the party is not out of reach for UKIP.

"It's quite conceivable and I know that Labour are worried. At the moment they are calling it neck and neck," he says.

He thinks turnout will be low - below 49% - and says it's key for Labour that they get their vote out.

 For the full list of by-election candidates, click here

Labour's John Mann, who is chairman of the all party parliamentary group on combating anti-Semitism, told the BBC that a report suggesting hate crime against Jewish people was now at record levels was "very worrying".

He said that increased talk of anti-Semitism in the wake of a row within the Labour Party may have led to more people reporting incidents but "it's also led to more people crawling out from underneath the stone ... and feeling emboldened to abuse people with racist hate speech".

He said the fact that the trend was "significantly" upwards meant there must be effective action to diminish anti-Semitism to protect Jewish people.

 "Anti-Semitism is creeping up, it's on the rise, it's become, for far too many people, the acceptable face of racism, the thing they can get away with."

Society needs to reject it, he said and "nip this in the bud".

President Trump brushes off reports of his "tough phone calls" with Mexican and Australian leaders.

BBC News Channel

Labour MP John Mann says Diane Abbott's absence from the Commons yesterday was "quite extraordinary"

"She gave herself a sick note at 5pm.... she bottled the vote, it's cowardice," he told the BBC. 

Mr Mann says Ms Abbott, the shadow home secretary, should apologise for missing the vote, saying other MPs who were sick made it in to vote.

"Hiding away from big votes is not the way we should be doing things," he says.

Ms Abbott, one of Mr Corbyn's closest allies, did not vote on Wednesday after complaining of a migraine. 

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has denied it was a case of "Brexit flu" because she could not bring herself to support the Bill.

"She wasn't very well. There wasn't going to be a close vote. If there was a close vote we'd be bringing even sick people back," he has said.

The Brexit Secretary tells MPs that the UK government is "taking the interests of Wales extremely seriously" as it prepares for the UK to leave the European Union.

SNP MP Hannah Bardell delivered a Trainspotting-inspired speech against Brexit during Wednesday's debate

Among other news from David Davis's White Paper statement is his suggestion that the UK will withdraw from an EU-wide DNA and fingerprint sharing database as part of Brexit,

He told Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan "new arrangements" would be sought instead as Brexit meant "almost by definition" that it would leave the scheme, known as 'Prum'.

The Prum Convention allows EU countries to search each other's databases for DNA profiles, vehicle registration data and fingerprints to identify foreign criminals and solve crimes. Britain rejoined the agreement in 2016, having previously opted out.

Ms Trevelyan had told Mr Davis she wanted the UK to leave Prum so the European Court of Justice could not access her constituents' personal data. 

Mr Davis said: "We will be making new arrangements with very, very clear in our mind keeping terrorism, crime and so on under control."

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Neil Carmichael, who is chair of the Commons education select committee, was speaking on BBC Radio 4's World at One programme

Reddit has closed down two popular far-right subreddits for breaking the website's rules.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

It's begun.

After decades of debate, years of acrimony over the issue in the Conservative Party, months of brutal brinksmanship in Westminster, and hours of debate this week, MPs have approved the very first step in the process of Britain leaving the European Union.

There are many hurdles ahead, probably thousands of hours of debate here, years of negotiations for Theresa May with our friends and rivals around the EU, as she seeks a deal - and possibly as long as a decade of administrative adjustments, as the country extricates itself from the EU.

On a wet Wednesday, the debate didn't feel epoch-making, but think for a moment about what has just happened.

MPs, most of whom wanted to stay in the EU, have just agreed that we are off.

Read Laura's blog in full